TONY EASTLEY: Jeannie Hayes will join about 900 others in Canberra this morning, to hear the Prime Minister deliver the apology to the half a million children raised in institutions, orphanages and foster.

The number also includes about 7000 child migrants. Over the past 15 years Dr Wayne Chamley has helped a number of victims through his association with the advocacy group Broken Rites.

Along with some of those people, Mr Chamley caught a flight from Melbourne to Canberra, and he's speaking here with our reporter Sabra Lane.

DR WAYNE CHAMLEY: Well that was a great experience. It was a 767 Boeing and I'd say there were 50 or so Forgotten Australians. Now there were quite a few people who have never walked into an airport before, have never been in an aeroplane.

As we got ready to board the plane they were noticeably a bit nervous. Some of them were there from as early as eight o'clock this morning. They had breakfast there, they had lunch there, they had morning tea there. They were all walking tall. This was their trip to Canberra for their day in the sun.

SABRA LANE: We know some of the broad themes of the apology, the word sorry will be used and it will be acknowledged that many forgotten Australians had vastly different experiences. How important will that be to them?

DR WAYNE CHAMLEY: It's absolutely essential. These people have been waiting all of their lives for someone of high-standing - and you can't get anybody of more high-standing that the Prime Minister - to acknowledge what they experienced, and to reflect on a very sad part of Australia's social history, where governments were not as vigilant as they should have been, were ignorant of what was going on. Some, I think, chose to remain ignorant.

It was an era where children were seen as units to be controlled. But to have at least 500,000 children removed from their families, not given education, not able to acquire social skills. And then for them to enter adult society, partner, have their own children, try and raise children, try and survive - that has had an immense impact on Australia.

SABRA LANE: Is this the end of a chapter with the apology? Should there be reparations made?

DR WAYNE CHAMLEY: Well that's up to the Forgotten Australians and the child migrants to decide. I would have hoped that there would be some form of reparation.

As an organisation, Broken Rites has argued for a long time that we should as a nation go down the road of what Ireland did of have a royal commission, to find out what actually went on and what have we got to have in place to make sure it never happens again.

Realise we've still got 30-odd thousand kids in out-of-home care today. And also then to bring the past providers to account, be they state governments or churches or charities, bring them to account as Ireland did and set up a trust, and one by one, work out what the needs of these people are.